Our “Mini-Mac” is a child-sized representation of the Mighty Mackinac Bridge that connects the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. The Mini-mac was constructed and donated largely through the generous efforts of Team Elmers and the Broad Family Foundation. Mason – the four-year-old son of a museum trustee – cut the ribbon at the 1:00 pm grand opening ceremony on August 14th, 2016, and led the opening parade across the bridge.

The suspended portion of the Mighty Mac is 1.63 miles which makes it the 5th longest suspension bridge in the world and the longest in the western hemisphere. If you include the ramps leading up to the suspension bridge, Mighty Mac is 5 miles long. Mighty Mac opened for traffic at the end of 1957 after nearly 4 years of construction. The two towers supporting the bridge are 762 feet tall (that’s two and a half football fields or 38 Great Lakes Children’s Museums stacked vertically).

To understand how large Mighty Mac is, imagine shrinking your family car down to exactly ½” long and then putting that on Mini-Mac… If your car is ½” long, how big would YOU be?